Armed man involuntarily committed at UNC Hospitals

The UNC graduate and Chapel Hill resident detained by police for brandishing knives near the Pit Sunday has been sent to UNC Hospitals.

Jesse Alan Kister, 31 , was involuntarily committed to the hospital in Department of Public Safety custody Sunday afternoon and will be charged with assault with a deadly weapon upon his release, said DPS spokesman Randy Young.

The suspect was apprehended Sunday afternoon after a coordinated search between DPS and the Chapel Hill Police Department, officials said.

Young said DPS received a call shortly after 4 p.m. reporting an individual in the Student Union threatening a person with a knife. Once DPS confirmed a threat, it activated alarm sirens throughout campus instructing people to go inside.

Chapel Hill police officers found Kister at The Chapel of the Cross on East Franklin Street. Once the suspect was detained, police drove him to the DPS office on Manning Drive within minutes, said Chapel Hill police spokesman Lt. Josh Mecimore. He said the suspect was transferred to DPS because the incident happened on campus.

Almost one hour passed between the initial siren and the all-clear signal, which came at approximately 5:20 p.m Sunday. During the period, alarms periodically instructed students, staff and visitors to remain inside.

DPS confiscated four knives from Kister, valued at a total of $100 , according to the incident report. Young said he did not know what kind of knives they were.

The report listed no injuries to the victim in the Union incident.

Kister is a resident of Kensington Trace condominiums off Weaver Dairy Road. He graduated from UNC in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in information science, according to the General Alumni Association’s online directory.

Young said Kister is not currently enrolled as a student or working as a UNC employee.

Kister also earned a master’s degree in health care administration in 2008 and one in information science in 2011.

Javed Mostafa, director of UNC’s L aboratory of Applied Informatics Research , taught Kister when he was pursuing his master’s in information science, and said Kister was working on electronic health records, which he was very passionate about.

“He really was exploring several ways to apply computer service to health care,” he said.

Mostafa said he knew Kister as a student, though not well personally.

“I can only tell you in the context of his project. He was doing very well.”